Best available cop



BEST AVAILABLE COP.

April 20, 1926. 1,581,917

C. O. BRUNO TIMER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed July 2 1920 z k14 I 20' :0 2 5 I 153.2 1 I l I B c HINVENTOR. A w "10 0.0.Bruna '1 I Il I I Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES BEST AVAlLABLE. COP.

1,581,917 PATENT" OFFICE.

CARL O. BRUNO, OF LOS AN GELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO -BIGELOW-IBRUNO MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILL'INoIs, A oonronn'rron or ILLINOIS.

TIMER FOR INTERNAL-COIEBUSTIOIV ENGINES.

Application aied'nii e,

This invention relates totuners forin- 10 ternal combustion engines ofthejtypemounted upon the end of a cam shaft and arranged adjacent thefan belt and fan of theengine. In timers of this character 'as nowgenerally constructed a terminal is provided for 1 sep rate wiresleading to the spark plugs of the respective cylinders of the engine,said terminals being equally spacedja round theperiphery of the timer.By this arrangeinent'in a timer employed in connection with 2 a fourcylinderengine two otsaid terminals are at the sideof the timer adjacentthetan belt of the engine and in a position where they are not readilyaccessible The wires leading to these two terininalsfarlsubjected 2 to'dirnwater and oil thrown b'y the izin belt so that much difiicultyhasbeen experienced through the rotting and wearing of the insulationoffthese two wires. V

One of the wires leading ,to. these two terminals is also in such aposition'that if the fan belt becomes loose or the wires sag, it willcut through said wires, and the other wire leading to these twoterminals is in a position adjacent the connecting rod to actuating thetimer so that saidwirc i liable to rest against said rod resulting in ashort circuit should the insulation of said ,wire be worn away. As aresult of the above described conditions much difiiculty' has beenexperienced through the short circuiting of the wires leading to thesetwo teri'uinals as well as through the necessity of continuallyrepairing or replacing these wires as they become worn. The wiresleading to the other two terminals of the timer are at the side thereofaway from the. engine and in a position where they are not subjected tothe various wearing actions above set forth.v These wires are also sopositioned upon the timer as to be readily accessible for assembling,inspecting and repairing theparts.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a timerconstruction necessitatcoinpanying drawings, in which;

i920. Serial No..e 93 ,547.

pi:ovide. a timer construction arranged to v provide'a spark' iiiitwo offtli e cylinders at the 'sanie time, thespark in oneof said cylindersbeing: :i, working" spark adapted to ignite a coinbustibleeliarge withinsaid cylinder, while thev spark? lthef other cylinder is anidle sparlr"nndeaethe beginning of thef 'suctionfstroke 'within said cylinder ,so

.ns to cause no, efiplosiori therein, but adapted .to burn off a any.'accinniilat1on upon the points of the' spa'rli' thereby pre- Ye lit:18311 16,, u

reservation-e111 nanny-imitated from the following descriptionofjthea'e- Figure l, is a somewhat jdiagrainmatic illustration showing atransverse section 'tlnough the improved. timer and the wiringconnections between'the same and the spark pings of'the respectiveengine cylinders v-:hich .are shown in longitudinal section.

2jis'a longitudinal section on the line 2 -2ef, Fig. 1; 1'

3 is a longitudinal section through the cylindersof the engine showing asomewhat modified wiring connection to the spark plugs from the improvedtimer.

The timer is mounted upon the end of the usual cam shaft 1, said camshaft being disposed in a horizontal plane with the end 2 at one side ofsaid casing. The timer (01H- p al casing 3 received over the end oishaft 1 and abutting against the,engine casing 2 with the casing held inposition by any suitable nieans such ,as'the usual retaining clip notshown. A- usual lug -extends from the top-oi the casing and is connectedwith a usual actuating rod 5 for rotating the -Casing relative to theshaft 1. The usual ring of insulating material as shown at 6 is receivedagainst the inner surface of easing l 'tl' 'd"* b d t" t' 0.1i11C 1 unU211 rin are em co co we 0 the usual four contact strips 7 connected toterminal bolts 8 pro]ecting through the cusmg in usual manner. These twocontact thereof projecting beyond the engine casing strips are at theside of the timer. away from the engine and are arranged'in'the usualposition occupied by the two contact strips at this side-of the timer.It will thus be understood that said contact strips are spaced apart adistance equal to one-fourth of the periphery of the timer casing.

The opposite side oithe timer presents an unbroken surface of theinsulator ring 6, this side of the insulator ring being, preferably,retained in position within the timer casing by means of a set screw whlethe opposite side of the insulator ring is positioned'by means ofterminal bolts 8. in usual manner. The terminal bolts are provided with'the usual lock nuts 10 and retaining nuts 11 adapted to clamp the endsof connecting wircsbetwecn the nuts 10and 11.

The contact maker of the timer consists of diametrically opposed"contacts rotatable witlifshaftf 1 so thata" contact is" alternatelymade} with strips 7 at every quarter revolution of the camshaft, Asaninstance of this arrangement the contact maker is shown as a collar 13fixed upon the end of shaft 1 in usual manner.and-retained in positionby nut 1e.- Sleeves 15 project diametrically from collar 13, s aidsleeves being open at their outer ends and each receivinga contact pin16 arranged for'wiping contact' again t ring 6 and contact s'trips '7The'pms'may s d; outwar y eans of su springs 17; 4 I

In theform of the invention shown in. Fig. '1, the four enginecylinders, are shown at A, BlfC and D; and'are eachprovided with a usualgrounded spark plug20. The spark plugs are connected bywires 21 to theusual s-MB". o ean'- As will be readily'understood, the cylinders,pistons and valves o f the engine. are arranged in usual manner,thatthepistons of cylinders A and D and thefpistons of cylinders 13 andC, aresiinilarly arranged relative ,to the crank shaft; and thevalvemechanism is such that, for example, as cylinder A-is on itsfiringstroke, cylinder D is sucking-in a newf charge, cylinder B iscompressing, and cylinder C is exhausting. The coils for cyl inders Aand D are connected in multiple parallel by a wire 23 to one of theterminal bolts 8 and coils B and G aresimilarly connected to the otherterminal bolt.

Thus it will be seen that at alternate quarter revolutions of theengine, a contact will be closed through coils A and D to cause a sparkin cylindersA and D. The spark in the cylinder containing a compressedcharge, say cylinder A, will cause an explosion and a working stroke,while the spark in cylinder D, in which there is no charge will be anidle spark. The nexttimes sparkoccurs in these cylinders, whieh will betwo strokes later in the cycle of operation, the spark in cylinder BESTAVAlLABLE COPv D will be the working spark while the spark in cylinder Ais an idle spark.

In similar manner cylinders B and C will be alternately fired betweenfiring of cylinders A and 1), through the contacts made by the secondcontactstrip 7.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 3, wires 23 are. each connectedto a single coil A and B The spark plugs of each pair of cylinders A-Dand BC, consist of a grounded plug 20 and an insulated plug 20, saidpairs of plugs for cylinders 3-D and B-.C being connected in series by awire 21 to the coils A and B respectively. By this arrangement it willbe seen that each time a, circuit is made through the wires lcadingtocoils A and B respectively, in the manner previously described, a. sparkwill occur incylindeis A and D and B and C as above set forth.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a timer'construction by theuse of which the regular sequence of operation is maintained in theengine cylinders, a spark occurring, in each cylinder upon alternatestrokes, with alternate ones of said sparks a working sparkand' anidle'spark. Furthermore it will be observed that the double endconstlruction of the contact maker permit-s of the elimination of thetwo timer terminals at'the side thereof which is inaccessible, and

which areliable to .become inoperative from various causes.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit. of theinvention as claimed.

VVha t is claimed is:

1; A timer for tour cycle internal combustion engines, comprising arotatable contact maker' having diametrically opposed contacts a casingdisposed over said contact maker and" stationary. contacts disposedcircumferentially in said casing, said stationary contactsbeing less innumber than the numberpf' the cylinders of the'engine to which saidtimer is. applied.

v2. A timer for internal combustion engines having a plurality ofcylinders, comprising ajrotatable contact maker having diametricallyopposed contacts, a casing disposed about said contact maker, stationarycontacts' arranged circumferentially in said casing and engageable withthe contacts of said contactmaker, said stationary contacts being lessinnumber than the number of cylinders of the engine to which said timeris applied.

3. A timer for internal combustion engines having a plurality ofcylinders, comprising a rotatable contact maker having diametricallyopposed contacts, a casing disposed about said contact maker, stationarycontacts arranged circumfcrentially in said casing and engageable withthe contacts of said contact maker, said stationary contacts being lessin number than the number of cylinders of the engine to which said timeris applied, all of said stationary contacts being arranged upon one sideof a diameter or said casing.

l. A timer for internal combustion engines having a plurality ofcylinders, comprising a rotatable contact maker having a plurality ofradial arms, yield-able contacts carried by said radial arms and acasing disposed over said contact maker, and having a plurality ofstationary contacts arranged circumferentially therein, said contactsbeing less in number ban the number of cylinders of the engine to whichsaid timer is applied.

BEST AVAlLABLE COP 5. A timer for internal combustion engines having aplurality of cylinders, com prising a contact maker having a pair ofoppositely disposed arms, a casing disposed about said contact maker, aplurality of stationary contacts circumferentially arranged Within saidcasing and adapted to be engaged by said arms, said stationary contactbeing disposed upon one side of a diameter of said casing and being innumber equal to one-half of the number of the cylinders of the engine towhich the timer is applied.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CARL O. BRUNO.

